Multimodal approaches to reflective teaching and assessment in higher education

Reflection is not a new concept in the teaching of higher education and is often an important component of many disciplinary courses. Despite this, past research shows that while there are examples of rich reflective strategies used in some areas of higher education, most approaches to, and conceptualisations of, reflective learning and assessment have been perfunctory and inconsistent. In many disciplinary areas, reflection is often assessed as a written activity ‘tagged onto’ assessment practices. In creative disciplines, however, reflective practice is an integral and cumulative form of learning and is often expressed in ways other than in the written form. This paper will present three case studies of reflective practice in the area of Creative Industries in higher education – Dance, Fashion and Music. It will discuss the ways in which higher education teachers and students use multimodal approaches to expressing knowledge and reflective practice in such a context. The paper will argue that unless students are encouraged to participate in deep reflective disciplinary discourse via multi-modes then reflection will remain superficial in the higher education context.     

Student loans for higher education

In recent years, economic circumstances have forced a wide range of governments to examine ways of spreading the cost of education. Introduction of loan schemes for higher education has been a particularly popular suggestion. Although schemes work well in some countries, however, in others they have worked poorly and have suffered from high default rates. The Hong Kong system, which was launched in 1969, operates efficiently. Many factors contributing to this are specific to the local situation, but other governments might find it instructive to examine the Hong Kong experience. In turn, others may also be able to teach Hong Kong some useful lessons.     

Electronic assessment in higher education

Assessment is an important cornerstone of education. A world trend in staying abreast of the latest developments in the field of information and communication technology (ICT) has led to an increased demand for electronic assessment in education circles. The critical need and responsibility for higher education to stay on par with the latest techniques regarding assessment subsequently led the University of Johannesburg (UJ) to implement electronic assessment in some departments in 2004. Several challenges led to this exploration into the use of one e‐assessment tool within the University.     

Value conflicts in higher education teaching

This article explores value conflicts that people experience when teaching in higher education, drawing on in-depth interviews with staff from a research-intensive UK university. The article considers the relationship between values and teaching, illustrating how conflicts can occur between individual and different levels of the higher education system. Five value conflicts are then examined related to: dialogic forms of teaching; independent learning; not having enough time for students; large group lectures; and the struggle to be authentic in the classroom. These conflicts were highly personal yet speak to broader concerns within contemporary higher education. Individual responses to conflict varied. Drawing on previous research, the main response of participants in this study could be described as ‘strategic compromise’. Although one person responded to conflict by leaving the profession, the majority accepted structural constraints perceived to be beyond their control. Within these constraints people focused on aspects of practice where values could be realised, driven by personal concerns. The article concludes by discussing the potential of a deliberative approach to the study of value conflicts in higher education and its use on professional development courses for university staff.     

高职专业法律教学探索

由于我国高职法律教育起步较晚,高职中的专业法律教学大都沿袭高等教育法学教学模式。教学效果欠佳。本文认为,高职中的专业法律教学不可完全沿袭高等教育法学教学模式或者高职法律专业教学模式,应针对学生职业在教学内容、案例选取上有所改革:针对不同职业的高职学生重点讲授不同的内容,切忌面面俱到;教学案例的选取应与职业紧密结合。以此观点来指导高职专业法律教学。     

Student loans in financing higher education in India

Confronted with declining public budgets for education on the one hand, and the need for more resources on the other, many developing countries such as India, have been examining alternative methods of financing higher education. One such mechanism is student loans. A student loan programme is not a new phenomenon in India. The National Loans Scholarship Scheme has been in operation since 1963. This article critically reviews the experience of implementation of the National Loan Scholarship scheme. It examines strengths and weaknesses and problems specific to this programme in India, with a view to identifying measures for marginal improvement in the programme. The conclusion is that at present student loans make little contribution to either the efficiency or equity of higher education in India.     

Sighting horizons of teaching in higher education

This conceptual paper tackles the matter of teaching in higher education and proposes a concept of ‘horizons of teaching’. It firstly offers an overview of the considerable empirical literature around teaching—especially conceptions of teaching, approaches to teaching and teaching practices—and goes on to pose some philosophical and social theoretical considerations that open further the territory around teaching in university. Against this background, we propose the concept of ‘horizons of teaching’. Horizons of teaching provide a context in which it makes sense for teachers to give themselves to the teaching enterprise and to go on giving themselves to teaching. Horizons include diverse and intricate layers at both micro- and macro-levels that interact in a permanent and dynamic way; they involve persons and collectivities; and they concern structures and agency. The paper concludes by proposing that horizons of teaching configure and delineate curricula and the pedagogical relationship in a way that might contain a revolutionary potentiality in recasting teaching in higher education.     

The assessment of teaching in higher education: A critical retrospect and a proposal

Evaluation of college and university teaching is considered in the context of growing demands for accountability of educational institutions and particular roles of faculty in achieving goals for which these institutions are believed to be accountable. In the first of two papers,^* three contemporary aprroaches to evaluation of teaching in higher education are critically reviewed. All three of these approaches-assessment of learning outcomes, assessment of teacher characteristics and analysis of pedagogical behaviors-are found to be defective on logical, theoretical and empirical grounds. A common thread of deficiency is the absence of a coherent theoretical framework for analysis of teaching and phenomena associated with teaching. Specific defecs are analyzed in each of the three approaches as well as in the ubiquitous methodology of rating of teaching performance. In analysis of evaluation by assessment of learning outcomes, teaching is shown to be neither necessary nor sufficient to subsequent learning outcomes. Assessment of teacher characteristics fails to identify those characteristics peculiarly indigenous to teaching as a generic activity. Analysis of pedagogical behaviors fails to distinguish critical teaching acts from more general teacher characteristics interpretable in terms of teacher personality. Furthermore, no adequate basis is provided for normative interpretation of data pertaining to pedagogical behaviors. The use of rating scales to provide data about teacher characteristics or pedagogical behavior rests on assumed rather than demonstrated validity of results. Evidence of validity or meaningfulness is replaced by evidence of consistency which is often spurious. The first paper concludes with an outline of requirements for a more constructive approach to the task of teacher evaluation. In a second paper, an outline of a theory of teaching is sketched which conforms to these requirements. Realization of this theoretical structure in teaching assessment report forms is described. Tentative conclusions from trial use of forms-in-development and recommendations for additional data sources are discussed in terms of their potential contribution to improvement in teaching.     

The assessment of teaching in higher education: A critical retrospect and a proposal

The first part of this paper (published in Higher Education, Vol. 4, No. 3) summarized fundamental defects in three contemporary approaches to the evaluation of teaching in higher education: assessment of learning outcomes, analysis of teacher characteristics and analysis of pedagogical behavior. The absence of a cumulative coherent theoretical framework for analysis obviated use of data from these sources in support of professional development or productive personnel decisions. A normative conception of teaching was argued as a necessity to justifiable evaluation. In this second essay, the required conception is developed in a context of development of a capacity for critical norm-oriented human action as a central goal of higher education. In developing this conception, teaching is distinguished from other activities frequently incorporating the same techniques: conditioning, indoctrinating, brainwashing, training, informing and instructing. Intent is stipulated as the key factor. The stipulated intent is not to produce learning, but to “bring about” a specified sequence of intervening activities necessary to intellectual development required for attainment of desired general educational goals. A “gnometectonic” sequence integrates pedagogical and student activities which are the foundation of the intended intellectual development. The gnometectonic sequence and a model of intellectual development constitute the essential structure of a potential theory of teaching and the basis for a Teacher Assessment Program. This structure is realized in the construction of student and instructor report forms as a first step in the development of such a program. Data derived from these forms are based on minimal assumptions beyond those implied by the normative teaching model. Preliminary results from trial use of forms-in-development indicate the effectiveness of the model in discriminating teachers in terms of intent, course arrangements in support of that intent and student perceptions of consequences of these arrangements as related to instructor expectations. In addition, reports about relevant pedagogical aspects of a course are differentiated from preference-related reports of course “atmosphere”.     

高职体育教学中素质教育的思考

随着我国素质教育的不断推进,在高职教育中融入素质教育的元素也成为当前教育必须要进行的工作。由于传统教育的影响,高职体育教学之中往往会忽略素质教育,体育教学也是高职教学必不可少的课程之一,在此前提下,就需要强化高职体育教学之中的素质教育。本文就高职体育教学中的素质教育进行了思考。     

高职英语口语教学研究

高职主要是为社会培养实用技术型人才,培养学习者某一特定职业或职业群所需的实际能力,为他们搭建通向某一职业的道路。在高职学校教育中,英语也是一门重要的学科。英语能够更好地辅助学习者获得一门好的职业,帮助高职学生进行更好的交流。有时英语还可以帮助高职学生看懂和掌握一些用英文写的国外技术,让他们提升自己的技术水平,使自己成为更加符合社会需要的人才。     

试论高校体育课中的探究式教学

高校体育课实施探究式教学,其效果明显优于传统教学法。体育课探究式教学改变了传统教学法统一化和单一化的单向传习模式,其基本教学程序应为:创设情境,提出问题;搜集资料和信息;引出假设,进行实验探究,论证;整合、归纳、迁移、应用。     

高职会计英语教学浅议

随着经济的发展,越来越多的高职院校为会计专业的学生开设了"会计英语"课程,然而这门课程再实际教学中却遇到了不少尴尬:老师觉得难教,学生也觉得难学。笔者通过对这两个问题的思考,希望通过规范课程体系,改革教学思路,使会计英语成为受到师生欢迎的课程。     

Student voice in higher education: Opening the loop

UK national policy and the practices of university course boards tend to reduce understandings of ‘student voice’ to a feedback loop. In this loop, students express feedback, the university takes this on board, then they tell the students how they have responded to their feedback. The feedback loop is a significant element of the neoliberal imaginary of higher education globally. This qualitative research study drew on interviews with course representatives in three universities in England, and on policy analysis, to explore the discursive construction and enactment of student voice. It uses the feedback loop as an analytical frame. Drawing on Foucault’s later work, the article aims to open up the feedback loop by exploring its manifestation in the mundane everyday practices of universities. In opening the loop, we identify the following effects of the student voice policy ensemble: students have to construct feedback as it is not just waiting to be gathered; it promotes a dividing practice, where reps are positioned differently to other students; there is a focus on problems; an ‘us and them’ is reinforced between staff and students; the loop closes down discussion; and a managerial logic obscures political processes. The article articulates its opening of the loop as a way of unmasking the modes of power which work through discourses of ‘student voice’, and hence seeks to create possibilities for resistance to being governed this way.     

Student satisfaction in higher education: a meta-analytic study

This paper discusses the results of a meta-analysis performed to identify key antecedent and consequent constructs of satisfaction in higher education. We offer an integrated model to achieve a better understanding of satisfaction in the context of higher education. To accomplish this objective, we identified 83 studies that were valid and relevant to the research objective of the current study, generating a total of 469 observations. We identified studies published from 1986 to 2016 and analyzed six antecedent dimensions (perceived value of educational services, resources provided to the student, service quality perception, marketing orientation, identity of the higher education institution, university environment) and one consequent dimension related to satisfaction. The 7 dimensions exhibited a total of 51 relationships. We believe that the originality of the findings clearly contributes to future academic research in higher education.     

我国高等教育计算机教学问题研究

近几年来,随着我国经济和文化的快速发展,传统的教育理念逐渐被新的教育观所代替,很多高校的教育环境、教育资源配置也发生了很大的变化。本文从我国高等教育计算机教学的角度进行分析,从高校计算机教学中存在的问题为切入点,在发现问题的基础上提出了改进高校计算机教学的一系列措施。     

论高职教育的师资队伍建设

高职教育是工业化的产物.工业化使得高等职业教育获得跨越式发展,但同时,高职院校师资队伍的建设已经成为制约高职教育可持续健康发展的瓶颈问题."双师型"师资是高职教育师资建设的主要素质特征.为此,高职院校应采取加强"双师型"师资建设,改善教师的职称结构,积极改革教学方法等措施.     

浅议高职语文教学人文性

随着科学发展观创建以来,和谐社会已成为当前的主要社会形式,与之相应语文教学也应更加注重人文性。怎样在新形式下加强高职语文教学人文性,培养学生积极、乐观、健康向上的心态、高度的社会责任感和爱岗敬业的精神,及其深厚的文化功底,是每一位高职语文教师急需解决的难题和面临的困境。如果我们既能增强高职语文教学的工具性又能发挥其人文性,也就达到了语文教学所追求的最终目标。